Transom panel

ABSTRACT

A hollow sheet metal transom which can be readily made with a minimum of hand labor and can be assembled with, and disassembled from, sheet metal doorjambs by a comparatively unskilled workman using only simple tools.

United States Patent Inventors Arthur S. Brown Girard; Edward L. Durch, Warren, both of, Ohio Appl. No, 795,014 Filed Jan. 29, 1969 Patented Sept. 14, 1971 Assignee The American Welding & Manufacturing Company Warren, Ohio TRANSOM PANEL 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

0.8. CI 49/504, 52/204, 52/495, 52/615 Int. Cl l. E06b l/l8, E06b 7/00 Field of Search 52/302,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,107,334 2/1938 Levene 52/477 753,765 3/1904 Voigtmans 52/202 1,959,597 5/1934 Plym .1 52/624 2,619,687 12/1952 Kahn 52/217 2,717,061 9/1955 Katz 52/217 3,004,641 10/1961 Johnson 52/455 3,051,277 8/1962 Day 52/618 3,166,164 1/1965 Daniels 52/127 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,240,587 1960 France 52/618 Primary Examiner-Henry C. Sutherland Attorney-Watts, Hoffmann, Fisher & Heinke ABSTRACT: A hollow sheet metal transom which can be readily made with a minimum of hand labor and can be assembled with,'and disassembled from, sheet metal doorjambs by a comparatively unskilled workman using only simple tools.

PATENTED SEP 1 4191: 04,155

' sum 1 OF 2 050M420 4. pupa av J5 J7 a ORA/6Y5 TRANSOM PANEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the present invention is the art of metal transoms for assembly with sheet metal doorframes.

Prior sheet metal transoms with which we are familiar have required skilled workmen to construct them and to assemble them with doorframes. For those reasons such transoms were expensive to make and to install. Efforts have been made by those skilled in the art to devise ways and means of producing sheet metal transoms which could be made and installed at less expense but, so far as we know, such efforts have not succeeded.

The present invention makes it possible for semiskilled workmen readily to make welded sheet metal transoms, and to assemble them with or remove them from doorjambs by the use of simple tools, such as a screw driver and thread-cutting screws.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a hollow metal doorframe which can be made by using thin metal sheets and channels with the parts being projection welded together. The transom may be positioned between the jambs of a doorframe by a top angle which projects into the top horizontal channel of the transom and by clips which are welded to vertical channels of the transom and are connected, as by screws, to rabbets of the metal doorjambs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be better understood by those skilled in the art from the drawings which accompany this specification and in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view, looking upward, of a transom embodying the present invention and mounted in position in a sheet metal frame including opposite jambs and a header;

FIG. 2 is an exploded, fragmentary view showing the transom of FIG. 1, part of the header of that figure and a top angle to be attached to a header of a doorframe and to assist in positioning the transom in the doorframe;

FIG 3 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the manner of assembling the panel with the header and top angle of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view, taken on line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG 6 is a fragmentary view showing an alternative frame construction in which ceiling construction is used instead of the metal header in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing three parts of the transom of FIG. 1 prior to the welding operation.

The doorframe of FIG. 1 consists of vertical jambs l and header 3. These parts are hollow, may be made of thin sheet metal, such for example as l8 gage, and preferably have the same cross-sectional shape which consists of returns 5, face portions 7, rabbets 9, stops 1 l and soffit 13.

The transom consists of front and rear metal sheets 17 and 19, vertical channels 21, and top and bottom horizontal channels 23. The channels are positioned between sheets 17 and 19. As is shown the edges of top channel 34 are flush with the top horizontal edges of the sheets 17 and 19 and the vertical and bottom channels have their body portions flush with the edges of the sheets and their flanges 29 extending inwardly between the sheets. The flanges of the channels are provided with small projections 30 (FIG. 7) which engage the sheets 17 and 19 when the channels and sheets are assembled for welding. Welding is accomplished by placing the assembly in a welding fixture and passing current through said fixture and projections to melt the latter and to form welds connecting the sheets and channels. If desired, an astragal in the form of a thin metal strip 31 may be attached to the lower edge of the transom (FIG. 2). The sheets 17 and 19 may, suitably, be made of 18- or 16-gage steel.

Sheet metal stiffeners 32 are attached, as by welding, to the inner surfaces of sheets 17 and 19. These stiffeners may be made of light-gage sheet metal, for example 24-gage steel, may have any desired cross-sectional shape, for example the hat shape shown in FIG. 5 and preferably are staggered as there shown. The stiffeners are preferably arranged vertically in single-opening units and horizontally in double-opening units.

Material 33, for example glass fiber batt which is sound deadening, resistant to fire, vermin, moisture, mildew and rot, may be placed within the transom as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and Attaching clips 35 are secured to the body portions 25 of the vertical channels 21, preferably by welding, and extend to below the panel for attachment, as by thread-cutting screws 37, to a rabbet 9 of ajamb 1. Clips 35 may, suitably, be made of 14-gage steel.

If desired, means, for example adhesive-backed mutes 38, may be attached to the stops ll of the jamb to prevent actual sound-creating contact of the transom and jambs. These mutes are thin, usually not exceeding about one-fourth inch.

FIG. 4 shows, diagrammatically, the manner of securing the transom of FIG, 2 to the header 3. As there shown, a metal top angle 39 is adjustably mounted on the header, as by threadcutting screws 41, with flange 43 spaced from the adjacent rabbet 9 by a distance enough greater than the thickness of sheet 19 and flange 21 of the transom to permit ready assembly of the transom and header, as indicated in FIG. 4. When the top of the transom has been brought into the position shown in FIG. 3 and the transom is then swung toward the stop of the jamb, the jambs are punched where the screws 37 are to be inserted. Then the transom is lowered in the frame and the angle 39 is adjusted so that when the transom is later raised into place it will be pressed against the mutes 38 by angle 39. Then the clips 35 are secured by screws 37.

It will be understood that the thickness of the metal of the channels and sheets, as well as the spacing between the angle 39 and the opposed stop, are exaggerated for the sake of clarity. The extent of exaggeration can be seen by keeping in mind the fact that the steel is 16 or 18 gage.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative construction in which the header of FIGS. 1 to 5 has been omitted and ceiling construction 44, for example wallboard, has been substituted. Screws 45 serve to secure top angle 39 in position relative to header 41 and transom 15.

As is indicated on FIG. 2, reinforcement 45 may be located within the transom, for example for a door closer or the like.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best mode contemplated of carrying out this invention, we state that the subject matter which we regard as being our invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood that equivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for, parts of the above specifically described embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination of elements comprising a doorframe and a hollow sheet metal transom, the frame including a header and jambs, at least one jamb having at least one stop, and an angle adjustably secured to the header and having a flange projecting downwardly, the said transom including front and rear flat metal sheets, vertical side and horizontal top and bottom sheet metal channels and between said flat sheets, each of the vertical channels and the bottom channel having a flat body portion substantially flush with the adjacent edges of said sheets and flanges extending inwardly therefrom between said sheets, the top horizontal channel having a flat body portion disposed between the sheets and remote from the edges thereof and flanges projecting outwardly therefrom with their edges being substantially flush with the top horizontal edges of the sheets, weld metal joining the flanges of said channels to said sheets, and metal clips attached to the body portion of the vertical channels and projecting below the bottom of the transom for use in securing the transom to the inner surfaces of the jambs of the door frame, said flange on the header angle projecting into the space between the flanges of 

1. The combination of elements comprising a doorframe and a hollow sheet metal transom, the frame including a header and jambs, at least one jamb having at least one stop, and an angle adjustably secured to the header and having a flange projecting downwardly, the said transom including front and rear flat metal sheets, vertical side and horizontal top and bottom sheet metal channels and between said flat sheets, each of the vertical channels and the bottom channel having a flat body portion substantially flush with the adjacent edges of said sheets and flanges extending inwardly therefrom between said sheets, the top horizontal channel having a flat body portion disposed between the sheets and remote from the edges thereof and flanges projecting outwardly therefrom with their edges being substantially flush with the top horizontal edges of the sheets, weld metal joining the flanges of said channels to said sheets, and metal clips attached to the body portion of the vertical channels and projecting below the bottom of the transom for use in securing the transom to the inner surfaces of the jambs of the door frame, said flange on the header angle projecting into the space between the flanges of the top horizontal channel for pressing the transom toward said stops.
 2. The transom set forth in claim 1 in which a sheet metal astragal is attached to the transom and projects below its horizontal edge.
 3. The transom set forth in claim 1 in which a reinforcement is secured within the transom and adjacent to its lower edge. 